Sunday Show Out - 03/22/2026

I reckoned that Monday’s to-do list was going to be a challenge, but not unmanageably so. By Thursday, I’d sketched the map for Beatdown in the Holler’s prototype and had a simple, clean tileset. I was beginning to feel the pressure of not having more done, but I knew I still had yesterday to finish what I started. I got up at my normal 3:45, showered, had coffee with my morning meditation, and got down to business.

And how did that business go?

Very, very well.

What did I do?

I finished this by noon:

That’s the map, extended map borders on all four sides, the four teleport boundaries, eight grapple posts, and twenty-one respawning enemies (seven of each type). I saved the project, leaned my head back, and felt like I’d exhaled for the first time all day.

It was finished, at least as finished to the extent to which I’d planned.

My finger hovered over the “Play” button.

Did I dare run it? What if it didn’t work? What if it immediately crashed? What if I didn’t know how to get it working?

I inhaled, held my breath for a second going on eternity, and pressed the button.

And it worked.

It worked.

The prototype was finished.

I played it for a few minutes, took note of some bugs, and stepped away for about an hour. I had a few ideas during that time, so I came back and added a health bar which faded in when Zel was hit and a simple scoring system. Now the prototype was done enough.

Presented without further comment, the prototype for Beatdown in the Holler:

I’m still having a hard time believing it.

What did I learn?

Throughout this entire process, I believed I could make a game. I could learn code, art, and music. I could get the handle of Godot. I was pretty sure I could make Beatdown in the Holler and use the lessons learned from that to make Just Beneath the Holler.

Up until yesterday, I believed.

Yesterday, I knew.

I know it’ll be hard. This is a prototype, a far cry from the full game. And that is a far cry from the extensive game I have planned for Just Beneath the Holler. But I know that, as long as I don’t stop, I’ll get there. And that knowledge is exhilarating.

I also learned to stop when it was time to stop. I had a dozen other ideas, other improvements, racing around my mind after I implemented the scoring system. Those thoughts had to be put to rest, if only temporary. I saved the Godot project, shut my laptop, and took the rest of the night off. My wife and I watched another episode of Last One Laughing UK and went to bed. All those ideas I had racing around were written down, and they will wait. I’ve taken my victory lap and today means it’s time to get back at it.

What’s next?

I have a few different directions in which I can go this week. I could immediately start internal playtesting and bugfixing, I could begin working on the non-game-development part of releasing a game, I could do a little bit of both. I guess you’ll just have to come back tomorrow to see.

As I’d said earlier, I’ll issue a formal call for playtesters here in a few weeks. For now, though, you can ensure you’ll get a link to the prototype and feedback Google Form if you subscribe. Thank you for joining me on this journey and I’ll see you tomorrow!